Tamil Nadu HSE First Year History flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Bhimbetka

Rock shelter site in Madhya Pradesh with Upper Palaeolithic to Mesolithic paintings showing hunting, dancing and animals in red, white and green pigments.

Mehrgarh

Neolithic site in Baluchistan (c. 7000 BCE) showing the earliest farming and animal domestication in South Asia, with mud-brick houses and granaries.

Cuneiform

Sumerian wedge-shaped writing on clay tablets, developed in Mesopotamia around 3200 BCE and used for administration, law and literature.

Mandate of Heaven

Zhou dynasty Chinese doctrine that a ruler governs by divine approval and loses it through misrule, justifying dynastic change.

Great Bath

Large brick-lined tank at Mohenjo-daro, interpreted as a ritual bathing pool, showing Harappan hydraulic engineering and public architecture.

Lothal

Harappan port site in Gujarat with a dockyard, bead-making workshops and a warehouse, evidence of maritime trade with West Asia.

Gayatri Mantra

Vedic hymn from the Rigveda addressed to Savitri, recited at the upanayana ceremony and central to Brahmanical ritual life.

Painted Grey Ware

Fine grey pottery with black painted designs, associated with later Vedic settlements in the Ganga-Yamuna doab from about 1000 BCE.

Four Noble Truths

Buddhist core teaching: suffering exists, it has a cause in craving, it can cease, and the Eightfold Path leads to that cessation.

Anekantavada

Jain doctrine of many-sidedness, holding that reality is complex and every assertion is true only from a particular standpoint.

Arthashastra

Sanskrit treatise on statecraft, economy and military policy attributed to Kautilya, a key source for Mauryan administration.

Kanishka

Kushana ruler (c. 127 CE) whose empire stretched from Central Asia to north India; he patronised Buddhism and issued gold coins.

Tolkappiyam

Earliest extant Tamil grammar and poetics text, describing letters, words and poetic conventions of the Sangam age.

Karikala Chola

Sangam-era Chola king credited with building the Grand Anicut (Kallanai) on the Kaveri and celebrated in Pattinappalai.

Allahabad Pillar Inscription

Prayaga Prashasti composed by Harisena, praising Samudragupta's conquests and lineage; a major source for Gupta history.

Aryabhata

Gupta-era astronomer and mathematician whose Aryabhatiya (499 CE) treated planetary motion, eclipses and the place-value system.

Iqta system

Delhi Sultanate practice of assigning revenue from land to officials (muqtis) in return for military and administrative service.

Second Battle of Tarain

1192 battle in which Muhammad of Ghor defeated Prithviraj Chauhan, opening north India to Turkish rule and the Delhi Sultanate.

Mansabdari system

Mughal ranking system with zat (personal status) and sawar (cavalry obligation), organising nobles, salaries and military service.

Battle of Buxar

1764 battle in which the British East India Company defeated the combined forces of Bengal, Awadh and the Mughal emperor, securing Bengal's revenues.

Nagara style

North Indian temple architecture with a curvilinear shikhara over the sanctum, as at Khajuraho and Bhubaneswar.

Ajanta caves

Buddhist rock-cut chaityas and viharas in Maharashtra with fresco murals depicting Jataka tales, dating from the 2nd century BCE onward.

Numismatics

Study of coins, used to date rulers, trace trade and identify dynasties through legends, symbols and metal content.

Saka era

Era beginning in 78 CE, used in Indian inscriptions and today the basis of the national calendar.

Dholavira

Harappan site in Kutch, Gujarat, known for stone architecture, three-part town plan, water reservoirs and a signboard inscription.

Hammurabi

Babylonian king (c. 1754 BCE) whose law code, inscribed on a stele, is a key source for Mesopotamian society and justice.

Ashoka's dhamma

Moral policy of tolerance, non-violence and welfare proclaimed in Ashoka's rock and pillar edicts after the Kalinga war.

Silappadikaram

Tamil epic by Ilango Adigal telling the story of Kovalan and Kannagi, a major source for Sangam-era society and trade.

Nalanda

Buddhist monastic university in Bihar patronised by Gupta and later rulers, attracting students from across Asia.

Fatehpur Sikri

Akbar's planned capital near Agra, with the Buland Darwaza, Diwan-i-Khas and Panch Mahal, blending Persian and Indian styles.

Xuanzang

Chinese Buddhist pilgrim who travelled in India (629-645 CE) and left a detailed account of Harsha's kingdom and Indian monasteries.

Chalcolithic cultures

Copper-stone age village cultures of peninsular India, such as Ahar, Malwa and Jorwe, using painted pottery and mixed farming.